Victoria Leigh

Hi BA Members!  Update on the Fundraiser...we are REALLY close! Last year we finished it in 3 weeks, so lets get this over with by Wednesday, which will be three weeks. You can do it!!! Let's get that donation box down! 

The box has not been activated yet. It should be on the home page later today.

Update...we were not able to get the donation form up today due to technical problems. It may be two or three days before it is functional. Please stay tuned!!!

We are getting close, everyone, but still need a little bit more to get us through. Would love to get this over with this week!!! Thank you so very much to all who have donated so far!

Cubanmiamiboy, there might be a way, I don't know, but I really don't want to go there! Sorry

Hello everyone! Just wanted to let you know that, after a very slow couple of days, yesterday was much better, and started off well this morning. So, we are over half way now.

Really would like to get this over and done for this year by the end of March!

Thank you so very much to all who have donated so far!!!

THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!! We hit goal this morning, so the fundraiser can come down for another year!

Hello everyone!

We got off to a great start, and we really appreciate your generous donations so far, but I'm afraid that it has slowed down too much this past week. We are at 50% now, slightly over, but that still only covers half a year, so please get your donations in as soon as you can so that we don't have to either keep going endlessly on this one, or have another one in a few months.

Just a reminder to PLEASE put your screen name or email address on the donation form or check!!! I trying to get a thank you note to everyone, but it is complicated if I don't know who you are! Thank you!

Victoria

I was able to access this site going directly from BTforD, and it is working, but, when I tried to access it from my bookmarked list or directly with typing in the address I only get the home page and it is blank except for the top red title bar. If I click on Sign In, nothing comes up. The same appears to be happening for some people on BTforD. And, if I try to go back to BTforD from the link on this page, it does open at all.

Another major, and way too early, loss to the ballet world, to young dancers, and to those of us who knew and loved him. And everyone who knew him loved him. Mark was one of the good ones, in every way. I first met him when he was 12 years old, in Miami, and he was just one of those special kids, who grew up to be a special dancer, teacher, and an exceptional ballet master. He will be be greatly missed by many, many people.

And thank you from all of us on Ballet Talk for Dancers, too! Lots and lots of to you all!!!

She stood about 5' tall...maybe. She had a voice that boomed out like it came from a giant. She screamed a lot, and insisted on absolute attention in class by all, even the professionals. One must never lean on a barre, or practice in the back and distract her, and if by any chance your "feeefth positione" was not perfect at the barre, you were doomed forever.

No, Claudia Cravey (not Creavey) and Clara Cravey are sisters. Clara also danced professionally and taught at the Houston Ballet Academy, becoming principal of the school for many, many years. Claudia was a phenomenon as a child, truly special and way beyond any other child dancer I have ever seen. She was not a Joyce Cuoco, in that she was not about tricks. She was a young classical artist, with line, technique, musicality, and incredible artistry. She was not making a gazillion pirouettes at 12, she was looking much more like a miniature ballerina. She grew into a top notch dancer with Harkness, and retired young to marry and have children. Her daughter is a principal with Ben Stevenson's company now, and Claudia has been Ballet Mistress of Ballet Florida from 1981 until now. She also teaches in the school and is an exceptional teacher. So is Clara Cravey, who is now free lancing as a guest teacher around the country.

They were both trained by JoAnna Kneeland, prior to her work at Harkness. So was I. Claudia starred as the Princess as a child in the production of The Princess, in London, in 1960. Violette Verdy was indeed the grown up princess. However, JoAnna was not the adult star in the original production in Palm Beach, although Michael Maule was. JoAnna was in the production in an important role, but Violette Verdy was the original Princess. In the London production the male star was Pierre Lacotte. I was a soloist in the production, both in Palm Beach and London.

Claudia's last name was changed for the Coppelia film, and I believe that she kept that during her professonal career with Harkness.

LOL! Yes, Jacki, but what I meant was shorter I think someone with the length of my legs and arms would have looked quite strange in that variation, with lots of very small movements and very quick work, especially for the head!

Thank you, that is it!

Yes, Cristian, but they are being saved for next year.

Thank you, Cristian, that was very sweet. You know, I think that would be a great idea for ABT. There were people at the reunion last May who were in the very first performances ever of Ballet Theatre in 1940.

Innopac, THANK YOU!!! That was it! Strange, because yesterday it just did that automatically, and then today it didn't and I did not realize that was what was happening. Now it's fine!

I don't know, rg. The photo is an 8x10, and I had it scanned at the camera place in order to have the photo restored. They also put it on a disk for me, and that is what I put into the computer and then attached here. When I first looked at it, I could see the whole photo in terms of the width, by moving the horizontal bar to the right, and scrolling down for the length. Now, it is showing only half of the width of the photo. Very frustrating

Yes, I can do that

Standing left to right: Eugene Loring, Aaron Copeland, Judy Siegried, ?(sorry, can't remember this one), Rosemary (blank on last name), Ted Kivitt, me, Rusty Nichols, Diane Anthony, Arnot Mader.

Front row: Janet Mitchell, Karen Krych, Basil Thompson, Sally Wilson, Bruce Marks

*****Helene, help!!! Now I can only see the left side of the photo! It will scroll down, but yesterday I could see everyone and now I can't. ????

Without question that is Freddy Franklin with Agnes! Great photos, rg, thank you!

Billy the Kid on the East Wing stage at the White House, May 1962. This is half the photo, which is what they sent me. It is totally amazing how many people we had on that postage stamp stage! Front center is Basil Thompson as Billy, Sally Wilson as Lead Dance Hall Girl, and Bruce Marks as Alias. Next to him, but cut off in this photo, is Ruthann Koesun. I am standing behind Basis, in cowgirl costume, in between Ted Kivitt and Rusty Nichols. This was my very first person in Billy, at the end of my first year in the company. Later on I did the Lead Dance Hall Girl, which was great fun! They flew us from NY to DC in an Air Force One for the day and back that night. [Note: photo comes out very large, and you have to scroll down and sideways to see it all.]